Danone is mulling the creation of several giant dairy farms around the world in order to secure supplies amid rising milk prices.
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The farms could be similar to that run by Al Safi, its partner in Saudi Arabia.
Al Safi runs reputedly the biggest dairy farm in the world, situated 40 kms from Riyadh with a herd of 32,000 cows imported from Europe and the US. Danone uses milk from the farm to produce yogurts.
“While the principle has been established, we need to stress that we are really at the project stage with this and that key factors such as the number of farms planned, their location and how they will be financed – by Danone solely or through partnerships with investors – have yet to be decided on,” a Danone spokesperson told just-food.
She did confirm comments made by Danone milk purchasing director Philippe Bassin that a farm could enter service in 2008 in an unidentified location adding that it was likely to serve as a “trial” operation.
The giant farms would be situated in regions where local production is insufficient or badly organised. In addition to safeguarding the supply of milk, they could also allow Danone to reduce its transport and logistics costs.
